Past Mistakes
by CentaurWatch
Summary: After the Time War, the Doctor committed one big slip that resulted in turning a little girl s life from the 1940 s upside down, he has always felt guilty about it, but now that she is willing to go traveling with him he might discover that what he considered one of his big mistakes, might just be one of the best things he has ever done. 9, 10, 11/OC.
1. An Old Friend

**Chapter 1: Past Mistakes**

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Soft whimpers of distress came out of his mouth as the Doctor tossed and turned as he slept, a nightmare plaguing his mind, making cold sweat cover his forehead making the sheets to stick to his body.

The TARDIS hummed loudly noting his anguish to try to wake him up.

He gasped at the sound and woke up startled, panting, as if he had ran a long distance. He ran a tired hand trough his face and tossed the covers aside, it was clear that he was not going back to sleep now.

He had dreamt of her once again, seen her as she had been when he first met her. The small girl of the 1940´s playing with her childhood friends at the park. She had showed him kindness at the moment he needed it the most, reminded him why the human species were so fantastic, her simple act at the time had made him feel in debt to her and had lead him to do later on one a reckless mistake. His hearts ached at what he had done to the poor girl.

He stood up to get himself a glass of water from the pitcher he kept by his nightstand, the cold and freshness of the water helping his body go back to its normal temperature.

The dim blue light of his room stopped him from being consumed by the darkness, and it brought great comfort to know that Rose was a few rooms down the hallway sleeping. He was not alone, he reminded himself, at least for now...

He got changed quickly finding a dark purple shirt and his beloved leather jacket before exiting his room, his sonic screwdriver in hand.

"Maybe it's time I take a look to those time vortex controls?" he asked to his TARDIS softly as he made his way to the control room, looking for something to keep his mind busy. Repairing things had always been his option of choice, even if it meant repairing things that were functioning all right.

-000-

Rose found him hours later below the console, a net of wires around his neck, his sonic screwdriver in his mouth as he appeared to be reconnecting something.

"Doctor! there you are," Rose said moving towards him, eyeing his work, for it appeared that he had been busy "I didn´t know the TARDIS was in need of some repairs?" she inquired, trying to remember if the Doctor had said something about it.

He eyed her, sonicing two wires together "Oh hello Rose," he said with a small smile already in a better mood from that in which he had woken up. "Well she just needed a few perks here and there...nothing serious," he said placing all the wires back in place quite quickly refusing to tell Rose he was just trying to keep his mind off things.

Rose smiled and moved around the controls taping them slightly with the tip of her fingers, happy to just be there with the Doctor, and all the possibilities of their adventures "So...where are we going today?" she asked exited at what the Doctor might have planned for that day "are we going surfing, swimming on the sky? or maybe a party in the court of King George?" she said voicing the first things that came to mind.

"Swimming in the sky?" the Doctor said in disbelief, letting out a soft chuckle "Well I had never tried that before," he mused, pausing a bit to recall if he had ever done something of the like "But maybe we could go to the planet-" the Doctor started to say until a phone ringing interrupted him.

He frowned at the sound, it had been quite a while since someone phoned him. Ever since the Time War he had pretty much kept to himself, with the exception of Rose, that was.

"Doctor?" Rose asked a bit surprised of hearing the phone ringing, she had assumed it was just another gadget from the console and not a real phone. "The phone is ringing," she offered, even if that was a given.

The Doctor let the phone ring for a little while, before actually moving to answer it. "Hello?" he asked chirply, smiling towards Rose to let her know it was all right, yet as the other person or alien or whomever was on the other side of the phone continued to talk, his smile erased from his face completely.

"I see," he said softly starting to re-enter the codes for their destination "I´ll be there, don´t worry, I..." his eyes met Rose´s " I will be there in a few minutes," he said as he hanged up and finished redirecting the TARDIS towards their new destination.

"Who was that?" Rose asked curious of who could phone the Doctor and make him look so upset.

"A friend," he answered vaguely, walking around the console and he piloted the TARDIS.

"What friend?" Rose said trying again.

"An old friend," the Doctor said pulling down the lever getting a grip on the rail just as Rose did.

As the TARDIS landed Rose went out, curious to see where this friend of the Doctor lived, was it a strange planet? someone famous she knew of? but as the doors opened she found herself in London, and just not any part of London, they were just in front of the complex where her house was situated.

She looked backed at the Doctor who was lingering by the doors of the blue box.

"Wait...don´t tell me it was my mum who called?" she asked confused, knowing that her mum could not possibly had the number to call the TARDIS, right?.

The Doctor crossed his arms around his chest obviously not that comfortable telling Rose he was up to something.

"You can visit your mum," he offered not daring to look at her in the eyes knowing she was going to get mad at him " I will just go and come back for you in a few hours," he said.

"What?" Rose said not liking a bit his plan "Why can´t I come?"

"It won´t be a fun trip Rose and I´m sure that Jackie will like to see you."

"Well It doesn't matters if it's not going to be a fun trip, I want to go," she said walking towards him, if he thought she could just dump her whenever he pleased to go somewhere else just because he thought it wasn't going to be fun, he was really mistaken. "Besides you can´t just decide for me when I can´t go, it´s not like I have not confronted danger with you before," she reminded him

"Actually I can decide when you go or not," the Doctor said stubbornly. "And I say you are staying," his tone of voice said he was done discussing with her and before Rose could do something else the well known Whooorp Whooorp of the TARDIS resounded and the blue box disappeared in front of her.

-000-

The Doctor sighted as he entered the coordinates for his true destination, he knew that Rose would give her a piece of her mind for leaving her, but this was something he had to deal on his own.

He landed the TARDIS in just another part of London, near a small chapel, he arranged his jacket as he closed and locked the blue doors and made his way following the small gathering of people which were all dressed in black.

As he said, this was no fun trip.

Some people looked his way finding strange that someone would wear a leather jacket during a funeral.

She was standing in the front row, her arm around a man around his fifties with already graying hair, yet he knew the girl was at least a good twenty years older than the man, but didn´t look a day older than the way she had looked at 1949.

He gulped.

Her eyes and nose were red from having cried, though she looked quite calm at the moment, she spotted him and smiled, relived to see him.

He approached her and soon found himself next to her and the middle age man. "Had I introduced you to Richard before?" she said softly "Lewis eldest son, he looks just like him, don´t you think?"

He remained silent, just nodding slightly as an answer, he wanted to say how sorry he was for the loss of her brother, knowing he was the last dear person that remained to her, but this version of him was not good with words in that aspect.

Give him a Dalek, an automaton and he knew exactly what to say and do, give him an old friend in grief and he was at a loss of what to do with himself.

"Richard, love, you should go and check on your wife," she said patting his hand.

"Will you be all right? I don´t want to leave you alone aunt," Richard said eyeing the Doctor with disbelief. His father and his aunt had been as close as siblings could be, and now that his father had died, he was afraid of leaving her on her own.

"Don´t be a silly boy, go to your wife, I will be fine, " she said releasing his arm.

Richard looked between his aunt and the strange man in the jacket another time before agreeing to his aunt´s words "If you need me just...just call me, okay?" he said kissing her cheek as she nodded .

"He was a great man," he told her.

"Of course he was," she said looking at the casket now in front of them, it was closed but there was a big framed picture of Lewis Watson at his 72 years, smiling brightly at the camera.

"Yet it should have been my baby brother attending my funeral, not me attending his..." she said, her voice breaking as her eyes watered with unshed tears.

"Annie," he said softly taking her hand, his hearts aching at her pain, she had lost so many people already, her parents had been gone for many years now, aunts and uncles followed close by, then cousins and friends and now her brother, and she couldn´t have the comfort of knowing she would see them soon, for she was stuck, thanks to him, she had been 19 years old for the past 56 years.

"I´m so...so sorry," he managed to say as he enveloped her in a hug, he felt his shirt become a bit damp because of her tears but he didn´t mind in the least. She had held his hand that time so many years ago, sit with him and let him cry.

He would do the same now.

The day went slowly for them, but he remained by her side as she said her last goodbye and her dear brother was left to rest below the ground.

The Doctor unlocked the TARDIS, there had been something in his mind all day and he had been debating on whether ask her or not. But now as he was about to say goodbye to her once again he changed plans.

"Come with me," he said, smiling, he would love to have her around, make up to her in some way.

"You don´t want an old lady to go with you to fight aliens," she said with a soft laugh.

"You are not old."

" I´m 75, for most people that is old," she said.

"Do I look like most people to you? 75 you say? please you are still in diapers," he said with a chuckle making her smile.

"I forget you are the gramps here," she said with a tone that suggested affection.

She looked around, with a look he knew too well, a look he had when no one was seeing. It was a look of loneliness, for years he had come to see her, to check on her, and had always asked her to come with him and travel, but she had always refused, arguing she just couldn´t leave her family and friends behind.

She bit her lip.

"I have found traveling helps in this kind of cases," he offered. "Different times, wondrous planets...we can go anywhere Annie Watson," he said with a grin.

"Yet, you have never stopped traveling Doctor," she said looking at him in the eyes, her comment made him go silent, she was right, he was always traveling, always on the run, making sure he kept his mind busy. As they looked at each other a silent understanding went through them.

"You are right, I never have."

Her chocolate brown hair was already coming off from the neat updo she was wearing and she arranged her coat around her as the chilly wind blew softly their way. She had no one waiting for her anymore, her nephews were grown men, married, with teenage kids of their own. They didn´t need an old aunt that looked as if she could be their daughter.

She took the hand he was offering her "Then my dear Doctor, make sure we never stop," Annie said stepping into the TARDIS, not daring to look back as the doors closed behind them.

**A/N: This is set roughly in 2005, after The Empty Child so Rose has been with the Doctor now for quite a while. I hope the Doctor didn´t seem to OCC, I just imagine 9 would be kind of awkward around comforting someone in Annie´s situation specially if he thinks it is somehow his fault. What do you think? Should I continue this or not? please leave a comment with your thoughts, ideas or questions!**

**-C.W**


	2. Meetings

**A/N: Thanks to loulouflowerpower, The Yoshinator, and KatieTheBaka for reviewing last chapter. I hope you like this one as well even if it´s more kind of a filler chapter.**

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**Chapter 2: Meetings **

Rose heard the TARDIS land, and peeked through the window to see him come out and look to her at the window, she bit her tongue trying to remember she was mad at him for leaving just like that, but the sight of a small brunette girl made her frown.

She seemed a bit hesitant of following him, but the Doctor grabbed her hand and pulled her with him as he made his way to her home.

"Who is that?" Jackie asked joining her daughter at the window.

"I don´t know..." Rose said, the Doctor never had mentioned any other friends, until that morning and well... he really never talked much about people he might have known unless they were talking about some famous writer, painter or politician and he would recall having running into them at some point.

"Well she seems pretty," Jackie mused trying to get a better look at the girl, "I mean, not that pretty really if you look closely...too skinny, " she added quickly noting her daughter´s discomfort.

The door bell rang and Rose went to answer it.

"Ready to go?" the Doctor asked giving her his best grin, hoping that she wouldn´t be mad at him after all, or at least save her anger to when they were alone.

Rose tried to take a better look of the girl he had brought with him.

"Oh, sorry, were are my manners?" he said with a soft chuckle. "Rose, I want you to meet Annie Watson, she just agreed to come with us, isn´t that fantastic?" he said happily, hoping she would find the news as amusing as him.

The strange girl remained behind him, looking quite uncomfortable, perhaps only remaining in her spot because of the grip the Doctor kept on her.

"Nice to meet you," Annie said offering her a hand to shake which Rose took with resent, as she found herself wanting the girl to be gone instantly. She nodded a bit forcefully as an answer.

" So did you two just met or...?" Rose asked looking between the two.

The Doctor straighten himself not liking how Rose was acting, she wasn´t like this, and it made him wonder what was making her act that way.

"We met some years ago," the Doctor said, wanting Rose to go back to how she usually acted.

"Oh?" Rose said " Never heard you mention any Anne before," Rose said looking if that evoked any kind of reaction on the girl.

Annie didn't looked that surprised that the young girl didn´t know about her, the Doctor had mentioned her a pair of times when he had gone to visit her . Yet her tone of voice was making her uncomfortable.

"It just never came up," the Doctor argued shrugging a bit his shoulders and letting go of Annie to clap his hands and draw the attention of the two young women "Now let's not get upset by this tiny detail, monumental places to visit remember? shall we go now?" but even if he was trying to act chirpy and happy, the atmosphere still felt dense around the three of them, Rose seemed displeased and mad at him, while Annie was getting upset, and that was the last thing he wanted to do at the moment.

"Perhaps it would be best if I...just..." Annie said making motions of her going away.

Rose rolled her eyes at her words.

"That is not necessary Annie, just, could you just wait for me in the TARDIS?" he asked her apologizing to her with his gaze. She had had a terrible day the way it was, Rose´s attitude was just wrong.

Annie nodded and left, seeming actually grateful to be allowed to do so.

The Doctor watched her go and made sure that she was out of a hearing distance to turn to look at Rose.

"I was expecting better from you," he told her, his tone cold " what does it matter when I met her or if I mentioned or not before? if you are mad at me just tell me so, but don´t treat a friend of mine in that way."

"I just don´t understand why you have to leave that way, I thought that..." Rose said trailing off, it was always like this, when she finally thought he knew him, he went and did something like that, when he left in that way she had thought that perhaps he was dumping her into her old, boring life.

"Thought what?" he looked at her, his tone demanding.

"Thought you...you would just leave!" Rose said, he was turning things around, she was in her right to be mad at him.

His eyes soften at her words."Do you really think I´m the kind of man to just leave you here in that way?" he said frowning, _did he really came out like that type of guy, more so did he thought of him in that way?_

The Doctor placed his hand on her shoulder "Rose Tyler, I would never leave you like that, when I leave you behind, will be the day you wish to come back home"

Rose grew silent, captured by his intense gaze, the Doctor simply had the ability to leave no room for doubts when he talked in that way, she felt silly for having think of him in that way. This was the Doctor, a man she could trust.

"Well, I don´t see me wanting to come back here," she said with a big smile

The Doctor grinned widely.

"Just let me go say goodbye to mum," Rose said running back in and saying goodbye to Jackie quickly.

The Doctor lingered in the corridor, as Rose came out once again, happy as she usually was, her eyes with that fresh excitement, he placed his hands in his pockets and followed her back to the TARDIS.

Annie was there already waiting for them. And to his surprise Jack Harkness was back from his trip to the bar.

"So Annie, where would you like to go?" he said unlocking the blue box. Ignoring Jack completely.

"Ahhh, so it´s Annie," Jack said with a grin in his mouth, as he had spent the past two minutes trying to get her name ."It´s a pretty name, if I say so myself, kind of old fashioned, I like it," he said with his one hundred pounds smile, he remembered meeting a pair of Annies back during the London Blitz, amazing girls...and well a splendid pair of nights. Yet this Annie didn´t seem to be having the same reaction of those Annies or the general reaction he was used to get from people.

"Please, don´t start," the Doctor said exasperated as they all entered the TARDIS.

"I was just saying she has a pretty name, " Jack defended himself, making Rose giggle at his antics. "Wait a minute. You weren´t going to leave without me, right?" Jack asked.

"Why would you say think that?" the Doctor said sarcastically. "So Annie, were to?" he asked once again.

The brunette looked a bit surprised by his question "Can I actually, choose?" she said, unconsciously looking at Rose. For what she had seen the girl had some sort of licking to the Doctor, she wasn´t sure exactly what kind of licking Rose had for him, but she didn´t want to intrude there.

Annie found that Rose didn´t seemed irated by that, and was waiting to listen were she would like to go. That made her feel relieved, it seemed the Doctor had cleared whatever misunderstanding that had gone between the two of them.

She turned silent, as the thought of going back in time to see her brother once again crossed her mind.

"You know that wouldn´t be a good idea," the Doctor said as if reading her mind, making Annie look a bit startled.

"Did you?-"

"No, it´s only you humans are sometimes too predictable," The Doctor said as he piloted the TARDIS .

Rose looked silently between the two feeling a bit lost because of their conversation "We could go do that swimming thing I suggested in the morning," she suggested.

"Oh the swimming, yeah that was a fantastic idea!" the Doctor remarked.

"I was actually thinking...there was this thing that always made me and Lewis wonder and.." Annie started to say remembering one of the history rumors that had always bugged them and had led them to numerous discussions.

" Well go on," The Doctor said encouraging to finish her sentence.

"Could we go to see Nicholas Flamel?" Annie asked shyly, half expecting the Doctor to laugh at her, and actually he just did that.

"Old Nick! Ohhhh that is a...that is just a really fantastic idea!" the Doctor said moving to the panels to insert their new coordinates "

"Have you met him then?" Rose asked seeing as he was calling the man Old Nick.

"What? no, no I haven´t actually, I mean sort of, but not really. I met his wife, Pernelle, before she met him, I attended one of her previous marriages, the second one or was it the first?" he said as he rambled. "It´s been a while since I have been in France during the 15th century, grab into something!" he said as a bit of turbulence went through the TARDIS.

Annie slipped and Jack was the one that got a hold of her, grabbing her by her waist stopping her from hitting the console board. To his amusement and complacence, she blushed. Oh so that was it...she was shy...he smiled to her, but she refused to meet his eyes.

Before he could do anything else, the TARDIS landed and the Doctor took the young girl from his grasp, he raised his eyebrow and followed them outside.

-000-

Annie couldn´t stop looking around as early 15th century Paris unfolded before her eyes, the clothes, the buildings, the city...it was just magical, though the smell could really be better...

"By Jove! we are really here aren´t we?" she asked amazed, a little chuckle of excitement escaping from her lips as she looked up at the Doctor to see him smiling in her direction, pleased that their little trip was having the effect on her that he desired.

Night had already fallen and few people were still on the streets, mainly people that were coming or going to the canteens.

Annie smiled, she missed her brother dearly and his loss felt heavy in her heart, but the Doctor had been right, traveling helped in this kind of cases.

As she looked around she could only be glad that she had listened to her Doctor.

"So where exactly did you get this girl?" Jack asked speaking softly so only the Doctor would hear him "I haven´t heard someone say by Jove in quite a while..."

"Just stay away from her Harkness, the last thing that girl needs tonight is you," the Doctor said rather defensively increasing his pace to catch up with Rose and Annie.

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**A/N: I think I might slip between episodes some original occurrences not that sure still though so please comment about your thoughts in that aspect. **


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